It seems that Electronic Arts is among the many eager parties to distance themselves from Washington's former NFL team name in the upcoming Madden 21. Earlier this week, and at the behest of team sponsors FedEx, Washington's NFL franchise succumbed to years of discourse, protests, and at least one episode of a popular cartoon all calling to change the name "Redskins" to literally anything else. Washington was one of the last holdouts in a movement to root out archaic representations of race in sports imagery, with team owner Dan Snyder insisting that media quote his words in all caps when he said he would "never" go through with the alteration.
This isn't the first time that Electronic Arts has altered its Madden franchise to remove politics from the equation. For the past three years, notable football player and activist Colin Kaepernick has been absent from the game, stemming from his decision to kneel during the National Anthem and the outrage that caused. The company even went so far as to scrub his name from one of the licensed tracks on Madden 19's soundtrack, although that decision was framed as a mistake and rectified once reported on.
As told to Kotaku by an EA representative, when players load up Madden 21 for the first time, they'll download a patch that strips the "Redskins" branding from the game. The representative said that the company is "pleased to see Washington's decision," and wanted to quickly implement the necessary changes. In place of the outmoded logo, there will be a generic replacement while the company waits for the Washington team to finalize its new identity. This does mean that players who never connect to the Internet will see the offensive branding, as the game's launch next month leaves no time to halt production and remaster the initial print run of Madden 21.
The update also includes changes to commentary tracks, motion graphics, stadium art, crowd gear, and uniforms. While EA did say that there will be some outdated branding in the game at launch, they are committed to removing all traces of the old name and logo via title updates "shortly after launch." One assumes that EA will go through a similar process once the Washington team settles on a new name, although that may take a while due to a legal battle regarding trademarks held by others that block many of the more appealing alternatives.
Ironically, Electronic Arts' stand against making games like Madden 21 political has resulted in a positive political move. The swift removal of the "Redskins" name from all manner of public discourse will send a clear message that it is and always was a mark of shame on decent society. In a world filled with so much racial injustice, the effort to finally rectify this name is too little, too late, but it is something. 2020 is a year in which every small change for the better counts for something, as it offers hope for a better status quo when things settle into a new normal.
Madden NFL 21 will launch on August 25 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, and PC.
Source: Kotaku